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Public Services
David Schmersal, Interest Group Chair

ATTENDEES

• David Schmersal, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 
Chair

• Melody Diehl Detar, Duquesne University
• Jane Elder, Southern Methodist University
• Kaeley McMahan, Wake Forest University, Steering Committee 

Member
• Steve Perisho, Seattle Pacific University
• Desirae Zingarelli-Sweet, Loyola Marymount University

Six members of the Public Services Interest Group met for an informal 
conversation and breakfast. Gerrit VanDyk (co-chair) was unable to 
attend the conference. After brief introductions and noting that our 
group was sponsoring a session at the conference (Beauty, Embodi-
ment, and Stewardship: Theological Libraries and Theological Ecol-
ogy, scheduled for 10:30am on Saturday, June 13), the group devoted 
most of our time discussing our group’s plans and ideas for the new 
iteration of Websites on Religion as a LibGuide: https://atla.libguides.
com/. 

As discussed at our business meeting, the Public Services Inter-
est Group has been charged with overseeing and maintaining the 
new iteration of Websites on Religion as a LibGuide. As noted on the Atla 

INTEREST GROUP MEETINGS

https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fatla.libguides.com%2f&c=E,1,QSW1HYAiIttN2QlRscfMZLHE3wueorkmvN5YxpccXsz-bxkpbCImHXTSBK52xAG8GH_Sx3UIzY9tTTi_ucuRswrKR_de1vIcaWnVrzFEo7H0ymwoLMnHaHU,&typo=1
https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fatla.libguides.com%2f&c=E,1,QSW1HYAiIttN2QlRscfMZLHE3wueorkmvN5YxpccXsz-bxkpbCImHXTSBK52xAG8GH_Sx3UIzY9tTTi_ucuRswrKR_de1vIcaWnVrzFEo7H0ymwoLMnHaHU,&typo=1


Interest Group Meetings  13

website (https://www.atla.com/learning-engagement/resources-for-
librarianship/websites-on-religion/):

• Websites on Religion is a selective, annotated collection of web 
resources for the study of religion. Please note, this database 
of resources has not been consistently maintained since 2014. 
Atla took ownership of the site from the Wabash Center in 2018 
and will begin work on updating the links in late 2019.

• This resource site was launched by the Wabash Center in the 
1990s through the dedicated efforts of Charles Bellinger. It 
was officially named “The Guide to Internet Resources for 
Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion” and was 
also referred to as “The Internet Guide.”

• When the Wabash Center realized that the scope and purposes 
of the site fit better with trained librarians than with the 
Wabash Center’s mission to support critical reflection on 
teaching practices, Atla was pleased to take over the site in 
2018.

David and Gerrit had a video conference meeting with Christine Fruin 
in the autumn of 2018 to discuss the PSIG’s interest in fostering the 
transition to LibGuide format and coordinate updating the links. 
Atla staff subsequently decided to separate the tasks, recruiting Atla 
members to move the content of the current site and asking PSIG 
members to oversee the content once the conversion to a LibGuide 
has been completed. 

At the meeting and in email correspondence, the group has 
discussed how to go about this, while recognizing that before making 
any detailed plans it would be best to see how the LibGuide is struc-
tured and then collaborate among members of PSIG to determine 
whether we will want to revise the structure somewhat. 

Broadly speaking, we have agreed that, rather than considering 
this an index of every website on religion (which Google can sort-of 
provide), it would be more useful to craft a carefully curated list of a 
few, select free online resources arranged topically, and that it would 
be best for a few members of the group to each take responsibility 
for a broad area, and recruit others to assist with curation as may be 

https://www.atla.com/learning-engagement/resources-for-librarianship/websites-on-religion/
https://www.atla.com/learning-engagement/resources-for-librarianship/websites-on-religion/
https://www.wabashcenter.com/


14  ANNUAL YEARBOOK

helpful. While such selection will necessarily be subjective, we have 
identified the following criteria to guide our judgment:

a. Websites that are sponsored by/affiliated with an academic insti-
tution or maintained by a faculty member at an intuition (e.g., 
“Assisting You to Learn”)

b. Official, organizational websites of various religious groups or 
denominations or historical societies

c. Websites that provide (legal) online access to relevant primary 
sources and to tools that help patrons make use of such sources, 
such as lexica, e.g., Perseus Project, CCEL, hymnary.org)

d. Websites that provide access to a variety of texts that reflect 
various perspectives (vs. websites that seek to promote a single 
point of view)

e. Websites that are regularly maintained and updated 

f. Websites that we have personally used and found helpful (e.g., 
STEP Bible)

The group plans to meet virtually and collaborate over email to 
make more definite and detailed plans once the LibGuide has been 
completed, which is projected to be in the fall of 2019.

https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ualberta.ca%2f~ebenzvi%2fteaching.html&c=E,1,NmQ23JBebNQMMHkLdfrjZlynieqYmt9m5p24KUOohUKiLCSUPYMCCGQ63Pcpy-PLr6M9Qk3jzGCcykfmrfiWBzqkJwG_9r0rKMjKq403olky3d4,&typo=1
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